


The Fisherman and his Husband

by novembermond



Category: Norse Religion & Lore, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, M/M, Seals (Animals)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:14:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28954809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/novembermond/pseuds/novembermond
Summary: In which Thor does a lot of fishing and gains a husband in the process.Written for the Snowflake Challenge 2021.
Relationships: Loki/Thor (Marvel)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 89
Collections: Best Thorkis, Fandom Snowflake Challenge





	The Fisherman and his Husband

The morning sky was a washed out light blue when Thor got into his boat. There were no clouds to see, it was going to be a lovely day on the waves. When he was far enough from the shore, he threw out his nets and enjoyed the sunlight on his nose. It was still too early in the year to be called spring, so every ray of warmth was welcome. After a while he saw movement on the horizon. A few seals were cutting through the water. He saw them on and off throughout the year, but never on his island. They must live farther out. One day Thor would sail out and see what else the sea had to show but for now he was but a poor fisherman, with only a small rowing boat, a tiny hut and two goats.

“You’ll find a wife one day” they’d said, “and have many fine children.” But the only things Thor found day in and out was fish. And today certainly was a good day to do so, he found as he tugged at his nets. He started to pull the net in.

Meanwhile the seals had gotten closer. Thor could see now they were throwing a big catch in the air, from one to another, while a third, smaller one, tried to grab it. “Now, now, you don’t play with your food,” Thor chuckled. When he was done with the nets the seals finished with their game. The biggest one went off with the biggest chunk, the next biggest with the rest. The smallest one was flopping through the water in something that could almost be called frustration. 

“Aw, don’t be sad!” He grabbed one of the bigger fish in his catch with both hands and chucked it over in direction of the seal. The seal plucked it out of the air and immediately vanished underneath the water. So much for a thanks. 

Thor went home, brought the fish he didn’t need for himself to the market and quickly forgot about the bad-mannered seals.

~  
On a very cloudy spring afternoon he had a bad catch yet there was no point in staying out for much longer. The weather was not going to get any better and the fish were not going to get not any closer to his net. He was tired, frustrated and ready to turn around when something tugged on his net. He pulled, but it didn’t move. He stared into the water, but it was too dark and windy to see clearly. He thought he could see something moving, but it could not be. It looked big, bigger than his boat, possibly bigger than a ship. It was probably his mind playing tricks on him. He pulled on his net again and this time there was movement – his boat jumped forward as the thing caught in his net moved away. It was all he could do not to slip and fall. The net had to go, there was no way of getting it back. But before he could untangle the ropes from his boat there was a huge wave coming from the side as something big and scaly lashed out. And just like that his boat was toppled and Thor fell into the icy waves. 

He collided with the body of the thrashing sea serpent and as his eyesight went dark all he thought about was how there was never going to be a wife and children, as he would find a clod grave on the bottom of the sea.

~  
When he woke up, he caught a glimpse of a pale man with wet black hair. 

“Who…” 

The man startled and vanished out of Thor’s sight. Reality came crashing in around him. He was sopping wet, very cold and in pain. All he wanted was to close his eyes and got to sleep. His own shivering ripped him out of his apathy. Getting up was the hardest thing he’d ever done. Finally upright he saw that he was on the small sandy beach just a short walk from his hut. All he had to do was take one step after the other. For the first time in his life he regretted building the cottage up on the hill. It had such a lovely view over the sea but walking up there half dead was agony. 

When he reached his home after what felt like an eternity he took off all his wet clothes and sat by the fireplace until he felt like a person again. The boat was gone, but he was still alive to tell the tale. 

~  
The next day he walked back to the beach with no real goal in mind. The sun shone warm and everything felt unreal, as if he had only dreamt it. A black-haired man that vanished into thin air? He had seen not a single soul when he got up. And the sea serpent, thicker than he was, and Thor was no small man. And longer than the longest ships he’d ever seen? A fine tale to tell in the pub after one too many beers. But then maybe those tales might have a kernel of truth in them after all. Reaching the beach, he expected to see absolutely nothing, for it to be completely undisturbed. But no, there was a big and familiar shape on it! Thor ran over to his boat. The planks on one side were broken and his fishing equipment gone, but the boat was salvageable. He must have had the biggest luck possible in all the seas, for how likely was it for his boat to wash up right next to his own house? Especially because the currents were all wrong for this. It should have gone farther out, towards where the seals lived.

Thor pushed the boat up far enough so that the tide would not take it back again and left it there. He needed his tools and some material first and he might as well leave the boat here. When he came back with supplies the boat was indeed right where he left it. He went to work at it every day, and unfortunately it took longer than he expected. But at least he still had a boat to work on. As the days got longer and the sun warmer he neared the end of his repairs. One hot afternoon he walked down to the beach and saw not only is boat, but further down towards the water also a man lying in the sand. His skin was pale, his hair black, and he wore not a single shred of clothing.

“Hello,” Thor called out. “Do you need help?” 

The stranger yawned and stretched his lithe body. “Oh, I don’t know. You would not happen to have some fish?” 

“Ah, well. Not fresh I’m afraid. I haven’t been going out for a while. I do have salted fish from last year.” 

“Hmmmm.” The man got up and stretched some more. Thor couldn’t help but notice again that he was very naked – and also fairly nice to look at. He felt a blush creeping up his ears but that was only the sunburn for sure. 

“I’m sure I have enough to share a meal with you. And some clothes.” He still owned an older shirt he had grown out of and pants should be easy enough to belt around this man’s slimmer hips.

“Oh?” The man seemed to notice his state of undress for the first time. He reached down and pulled up a kind of light grey pelt that he’d been lying on before. He wrapped it around his waist. “My name is Loki, by the way. What’s yours?”

And so Thor found himself leading a stranger into his home. But then you couldn’t really call someone a stranger if you already knew his name, could you? They shared a meal and ale. They talked about the weather, the sea and the turning seasons. Thor talked about his boat and how he would soon go out to the sea again. When it got dark outside, Loki, still wearing nothing but the pelt around his hips leaned forward and kissed Thor on the lips. Then he stepped back and thanked Thor for the meal before walking out. 

~  
Thor kept working on his boat and Loki kept showing up. Not every day, not every other day, but frequently enough. Sometimes he brought fresh fish with him. They prepared dinner together and talked a little and then kissed a little. Then they would kiss some more. And finally they did all sort of things Thor greatly enjoyed. But Loki would never stay the whole night. He stayed longer and longer. But before the crack of dawn he would roll out of Thor’s embrace, grab for the spotted grey pelt he had taken off when he joined Thor in the bed and leave. Sometimes Thor stayed in the bed, sometimes he didn’t even wake up when Loki left. Sometimes he got out of bed and watched Loki walk down the hill towards the beach. He never saw what Loki did down there or where he went from there.

One night as Loki nuzzled up to him Thor stiffened.

“What’s wrong?”

“Why are you leaving? Are you not happy here?”

“But I don’t live here.” Loki sounded bewildered, like the idea of simply staying had never crossed his mind.

“We share our food and this bed almost every day. You might as well live in this house.” Thor sat up. “I know it’s not much. I am not rich. I only have one boat, this small hut and the two goats…“

“Very cranky goats I might want to add.” Loki smirked. 

“They are not cranky, just stubborn. I guess I like stubborn creatures.”

Loki sighed, then reached for his pelt. “You are the nicest human I have ever met. I like you.”

“I guess you haven’t met too many.”

“I guess not.” And then he left again.

~  
He didn’t come back the following week. Or the one after. Thor sat in his boat, by now long repaired, and sulked.

He went to the market to sell his fish. Usually, he went right home afterwards but he could need a little distraction. So he looked through the market stalls to see what they offered. One had jewelry made of limestone. It was very light grey with darker sprinkles, just like Loki’s beloved fur. Thor bought a small pendant on a leather string. So much for the distraction.

When he came home his house was not empty. Loki, naked as always, sat on the bed and cried.

“Are you okay? Where have you been?”

“Oh, Thor!” Loki threw himself into Thor’s embrace. “I lost my sealskin. I cannot go back home without it!”

“It’s okay, it’s okay I’ll help you look for it.” Thor found himself babbling while he rocked Loki and tried to soothe him.

“No! It’s gone!” Loki shoved him away. “There is no point in looking for it! I will be forever…” He broke off, sobbing. “Forever be forced to live on land, here…”

Thor reached for him again. “But is it really so bad, to stay here with me?”

Loki started to calm down. “Will you take me in?”

“Loki, you do practically live here already!”

Loki gave a snort that was half sob, half laugh. “I guess there could be benefits to staying here all day around?” He then proceeded to take Thor’s clothes off and show him exactly what sort of benefits he meant.

Afterwards when they were idly cuddling Thor remembered the necklace. “Oh, I got something for you!” He reached into his bag lying discarded on the floor and pulled the stone out. 

Loki looked at it with huge eyes. “For me?”

“If you want it.”

Loki nodded, so Thor put the string around his neck and closed it with a knot. 

And that was the story of how the fisherman gained not a wife, but a husband.

~  
A year later Thor decided the hut needed a spring cleaning. He had too much old junk he never used in the back of the room and since Loki finally owned some clothes for himself and a few other things, space was badly needed. Sooner or later, they would add a second room to the house, but the cleaning was necessary anyways. So Thor pulled out the wooden trunk that held a few old clothes and trinkets and other clutter to the forefront of the house where he sat in the grass and started to sift through and sort out what would have to go and what could be reused. Meanwhile Loki was tending to the goats, or rather arguing with them. He could feed and milk them alright, but he had never gotten the hang of their personalities.

When Loki noticed what Thor was doing he called over, “I can do that for you there’s no need to…“ He broke off suddenly. “Let go of me this instant! Tooth Gnasher, these pants are brand new! Stop chewing them!”

Thor had a good laugh at that. His family was weird, but it was his. He reached the bottom of the wooden chest and pulled out the last piece of clothing – a silvery grey sealskin pelt with dark sprinkles. He looked at Loki. His husband, still fighting off the goat, gave him a flat stare.

“Oh no! If my husband keeps my sealskin locked away and the key to the chest in his pocket, I will never ever be able to return to the sea! I will be forced to stay with him forever! Woe is me.”

Thor raised his eyebrow, but he put the pelt back, then piled everything else he deemed worthy of keeping on top and closed the lid. “It was not even locked.”

Loki said and did nothing.

Slowly Thor picked the chest up and carried it back into the house where he set it down in the same place as before and pointedly did not lock it. When he got back outside, Loki had resumed his quarrel with the goats and acted as if nothing unusual had happened.

And that was the story of how the fisherman kept the husband.


End file.
